A massive earthquake measuring 7.9 on the Richter scale has hit Papua New Guinea. Not only this, as per the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre, the possibility of hazardous tsunami waves cannot be ruled out.
While the region continues to witness quakes of varying intensity, it is the fear of potential tsunami waves which may be several metres in height that haunts the region at present.
The quake struck at about 5:51 a.m. ET, at least 45 km east of an island of Papua New Guinea, New Ireland which is commonly known as Latangai.
As per the Tsunami Warning Centre, the fear of tsunami waves during the next few hours loom large over coasts of Pohnpei, Indonesia, Chuuk, Solomon Islands, Kosrae, Nauru, and Vanuatu.
Earthquakes are a common affair in Papua New Guinea as it lies along the "Ring of Fire” which is a seismic zone around the edges of the Pacific. As per the USGS, here, at least 90% of the world's earthquakes occur.
The ring has at least 400 underwater volcanoes. The ring of fire stretches over 40,000 km right from New Zealand, across the Bering Strait, past Japan up to the tip of South America.
Image Credit: USGS
